MMEA Fest

Cinematography Reel MMEA - ID# 239

Mundelein

Cinematography

Entry Description

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

4/29 8:56 pm - Pros - Great use of natural light and control of varied time and weather environments. Slow motion shots create a nice tonality. Nice choice with added grain in the music video shots that created an unique style and vibe for their environment. Compositions were very strong and shot variety helped demonstrate range of ability as a shooter. Cons - Would have liked to see more artificial lighting situations on display. A few of the low light shots struggle with contrast control and the subject renders a bit muddy and loses detail. Your reel is impressive in the shots that you have but the range of control appears slightly limited. All in all a very strong effort and rises near the top of the category.
4/6 1:08 pm - Great reel showcasing a variety of shots, movements, and environments to clearly demonstrate your ability to control your camera manually. Love the additional sound effects and cues throughout to engage the audience in a variety of places and space. Would love to see a few more shots using fixed artificial lighting to illuminate a subject.

Judge 1

Positives: Compositions looked great and color is nicely balanced. Good variety in shots from exterior to interior. Landscape to human subjects.

Improvements: I was very happy to see you experimenting with different types of lighting but in some cases its leaving your footage underexposed and leaving you with some noisy footage, particularly in the piece with the prison friends singing. Its not terrible and it almost seems to lend itself to a grungy style for that piece but it would have been nicer to see a more intentional film type grain as opposed to digital noise which doesn't look quite as appealing There are too many exterior shots of the abandoned church, it just gets overly repetitive. The shot of the snowman Christmas display doesn't add anything, and doesn't look terribly appealing I would get rid of it.

Judge 2

Positives: The clips showing images during the golden hour are well done. It shows a range of emotions that are always evocative and emotional. The drama of the activity, as shown in many of the dynamic clips, are very engaging. The series of images, blended together with the music, are very nicely arranged. This reviewer appreciated the pacing of the music with many of the clips. This is a very good choice of music blended with the visual journey; effective choices in both categories. Some of the details captured in the slower shots were compelling and did not deter from the overall pacing at all.

Improvements: The pacing overall was effective, but some of the darker shots taken at night were a bit too abrupt; the sequence of the day into night could have been considered in terms of a visual journey. The nature of the perceived cinematic exploration, while effective begins at sunset and seems to go on a sequence of events that are headed into night time and then into another day. The one clip in daylight/snow (17 -21 sec mark) appears incongruous compared to other scenes; the fire at night (crisp) cut into the next snowy day (hazy and against the sun) looked a bit jarring; perhaps a 2 sec clip to show a nice, crisp visual of the next day, then into the hazy part could have set up a visual dialogue. Scenes of the music being played in the barn could have used more 'front light' to balance the amber glows from behind... a bit too shaded to fully appreciate the music and evocative journey. While the clips separately are well done, the overall color palette could have been considered more as the images blending into the next. Think of it more as a 'watercolor,' rather than a graphic poster,' where the lines of color blurred into the adjacent color, rather than fully delineated as separate aspects of color. This is not a criticism; rather it is what the emotional resonance of the overall clip suggests.

Judge 3

Positives: Editing for this piece was great! The shots flowed really well together and provided a variety in look and style. The music and sound effects really added to the overall piece. By far, the best part of this piece was at 0:46 when the visual and audio match perfectly. It makes you want to be hanging out with these people! The variety of daytime and nighttime shots also shows a level of skill which is great.

Improvements: A handful of the shots were slow-motion and it didn't feel necessary at times. There could have been more diversity in the lighting techniques throughout the piece.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: